The Nukezilla Sunday Supplement – March 27th 2011

Every Sunday we’re going to post links to articles we think are interesting from the last week. Sundays are usually very quiet around here, so this seems like the best day to do it. We’re going to link to articles on range of subjects, including videogames, technology, movies, geek culture and much, much more.

Videogames

No pain, no gain. – Eurogamer. An interesting article asking whether videogames are a form of masochism because of how frustrating and difficult they can be. I certainly get annoyed, but is a good game ones that gets the balance between fun and anger?

Beyond Façade: Pattern Matching for Natural Language Applications – Gamasutra. Is the age of natural speech here? Telltale’s Bruce Wilcox delves into techniques for natural language processing and contrasts AIML and Façade’s approach against his own award-winning ChatScript, showing a path forward for word-based game technology.

Internet

James Gleick’s History of Information – The New York Times. This NYTimes book review examines James Gleick’s new book on the subject of “Information”, the “blood and the fuel, the vital principle of the world”. A fascinating subject relating to the internet and the so-called internet age.

Science

Do you have free will? Yes, it’s the only choice – The New York Times. A fascinating look at free will, or what we think is free will. It also looks at the psychological and scientific explanations of free will and self-determination.

Why are there only two sexes? – Slate. “Why is the mating game almost always a dance of two, whether the scene is a swank Manhattan watering hole or the shallows of an average pond? Why not three or four possibilities, or even more?”

History & World

Divorce, Antebellum Style – New York Times. A great article which looks at divorce during the mid 19th century as America thrust itself into civil war. It looks at the sanctity of the “Union” and the sanctity of the “union”, with some interesting comparisons.

4 Times Journalists Held Captive in Libya Faced Days of Brutality – The New York Times. The tale of four NYTimes journalists captured in Libya. A very scary account of their capture, told in a fantastic way. Amazing journalism.

Cool Stuff

What the Dog Saw - The New Yorker (Gladwell.com). Great article by the (very good) Malcolm Gladwell. Gladwell follows around Cesar Milan, the well-known “Dog Whisperer” to see how he works. A great insight.

Don’t Call me, I Won’t Call You – The New York Times. “Nobody calls me anymore — and that’s just fine. With the exception of immediate family members, who mostly phone to discuss medical symptoms and arrange child care, and the Roundabout Theater fund-raising team, which takes a diabolical delight in phoning me every few weeks at precisely the moment I am tucking in my children, people just don’t call.”